Directory device.



PATENTED JUNE 26, 1906.-

(LIA. JOHNSON. DIRECTORY DEVICE.

APPLIUATION FILED DBO. 7. 1905.

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, A TTOH/VEYS UNITED strarssjra'rnur orrion.

, CHARLES AUGUST JOHNSON, 0F MALDEN,-MASSACH1ISETTS.

' DIRECTORY DEVICE.

No. 824,483. Specification of Anplr'cetion filed December 7,1905. Serial No. 290.867.

To all whom, iii-17mg concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES AUGUST J onNsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Malden, in the county of Mid dlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Directory bevice, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description. V I 1 The purpose of the invention is to provide a directory articularly ada ted for use in elevators an so constructed t at the names of the tenants of the building are produced upon position acts as a lock for the s ats and in its second position admits of the slats being removed from or shifted in the frame or introduced into the frame.

The invention consists in the novel con structionand combination of the several parts, as will be'her einafterfullyse t forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had tothe accompany ing drawings, forming a partofthisspecificib' tion, which similar characters of, reference 1nd1cate corresponding parts'in all the figures. Flgure 1 1s afr ont elevation ofthe improved directory, showing the name andindex slats locked-in the frame. Fig. 2 is a front view of the flipper portion of the directory,- showing the frame opened toadmit-ofthe iintroduc tlon and adjustment ofthe sl'atsin the frame; and Fig. 3-isahor'iz'ontal section taken practically on the line 3 3 ofFig.

A represents theframe -of thedeviee, the

saidframei being preferably made-of metal.

The bottom bar of the frame is fiat andis of an desired thiclmess,- and the side bars 11 are li ewise flat, being of the-same thickness} as the bottom bar 10; but each of the side bars 11 is provided at the'back of its'inner longitudinal face with aflange 12, .the back of which fian e is usually flush with the back of the said side bars, as is shown in Fig.3. The combined guide and division bars B extend from the bottom bar. 10 of the frame parallel LettersPatent. Patented. June 26,1906.

- with'the side bars 11, and these bars are at equaldistances from the side bars andfrom each other, so as to produce a series of columns C, and while two of these combined guide and division bars B are shown any desired'number may be employed, according to the number of columns required in the'frame. The said guide and division bars Bare T- shaped in cross-section from a point just above the'bottom bar 10 to a'point near their said bars B are flat, as is shown in Figs. 1 and sists of a rear head-section 14, which issecured in'the back portion of the bottom bar 10, preferablyin such manner that its rear face will be flush with the rear face of the said members of the bars B extend-from the upper face of thebottom bar 10 of the frame to the plain upper portion 13 of said bars, as is division ba'rs B .extend .up the same distance .as the-side barsll.

A- cross-bar-17'is located at the upper back by lugs 19a. theends of the said cross-bar portions 01 the side ars '11, as is shown inFig. 3, and by narrow lugs 18, which extend from whereby the combined lugs 18 and bars B of the" bars, B is located. at. the

said bars, as has been stated.

front of position. (ShOWn'hI-Flg. 1.)- A signrboard 21 is securedin which the elevator carrying theidirectorf thick to be providedwith a vertical groove 22 at each end adapted to receive thefianges lZ sign-board is further provided atits'rear with The T-shaped portion of each barB COIl:-

shown also inEigs. -1" and 2. The guide and portion of" the' frame, being offset therefrom the rearupperfaces of the combined guide .and division bars,- as is also shown in Fig. 3,

are T-shaped in cross-section; but the wb" portion isat the back, whereas the main web is located. This 'sign board is sufiiciently Teshaped openings 23, extending doiwnfrom I top 'tobottompjwhich r cesses receive the upper ends; but the upper portions 13 of the bottom bar and a Web member 15, which web which ha e oearin' against the back upper.

An 'iupper or'thin top frame-bar 20-is pro-- yidedj'corresponding to the bottom frame-b 1D and the side frame-bars ll. The top bar is" adapted to fit snugly, in betweenthe-irmer faces of the saidside bars at-the-frontwhenf the top section of the' fra'me isin its. closed. a

3, 10o, tolthe back of the top bar 20, extendingdown any desired distance, and on the front face off 'this Qs'ignboardv the name of the building is produced of the side bars ll-of theframe. Tlhesaid' flat upper portions of the combined guide and division boards and the lugs 18 connected therewith, so that in this manner the top section of the frame constructed as de- The frame is adapted toreceive slats 2a,

7 on each of which slats a letter of the alpha bet is printed, impressed, or. otherwise produced, and in connection with-these initialslats 24' series of name-slats 25 are also employed. Sundryof the name-slats are blank "upon both'face's and others have the names column C to t e other.

of the occupants of the building produced on one face,,together with the number of the room or rooms occupied by such tenants. The name-slats 25 are narrowerthan the initial-slats 24, butall of the slats are of such length that the extend from one side of the Each slat is provided .at each end with a vertical recess 26,

' as is best shown in Fig. 3, to receive the flanges 12 of the side bars 11 of the frame and adjacent portions of the head-sections 14 of the-combined guide anddivision bars. The

name-slats are alphabetically grouped, and: each group is hea ed by an ap ropriate initial-slat 2st. The slats 24: an; 25 may be made ofany suitablematerial. Preferably, however, they'are made'o'f a compressed fiber and are fi ures being impressed thereon and colored W 'te. v

. When all the slats are in position in the frame, the upper section of the frame will bear upon the upper edges of the uppermost slats of all of the columns, and one slat will have firm. bearing upon the other, the lower most slat having bearing upon the upper vface of the bottom bar 10-. If a slat is to be shifted by reason of an occupant leaving the building, for example, the upper section of the frame is slid upward about as far as the lower edge of the rear crossbar- 17, as shown in Fig. 2,01 as fares possible Without causing the said uppermost section to leave its guides or slideway's. VVhen the u per section of the frame is in this ositi on, t e slats in'the col umn in which t e slat to. be removed is located are slid up, as shown, to the left in Fig. 2, until sufficient space is obtained to remove the desired slat, which is done by carrying one end of it high enough toclear it from its guide or slideway, whereupon the slat canbe removed entirely from the column. The slat may then be reversed or turned end for end so as; to present a blank face to the front after the slat is reintroduced into the column, which is done in the same manner as that by which it Was removed, or another slat bearing another name and number may ainted black, the names and seat-es be introduced into the-space formerlyoccw pied by the one removed, and in introducing the new slat one end, for example, is made to receive the head of a bar B in its slot, which end of the slat is made to rest on the slat in position in the frame and which isto be the next lo\vest The opposite end of the slat being introduced is then raised sufficiently to permit the'fiange 12 of the. adjacent side bar 11 to enter the slat at that end of the slat, whereupon the slat is permitted to drop to a continuous englagement with the one imme- M diately beneat it, and the slats above are then permitted to drop upon the neWly-in-' troduced slat. In this manner any particu lar slat may be shifted, removed, or substituted Without removing adjacent slats from theframe or interfering with the order of said slats.

It is evident that a device'of the character described can be made very simple, and-is especially adapted for use in an elevator, and that the names can be readily and expedi tiously changed when desired, and that the device may be made larger and employed in a hall or lobby of a building, for example.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new and desire to secure Patent 1 I 1. In a directory device, a frame having opposing combined guide and division bars dividing the frame into one or more columns, name-slats arranged to fit one on the other in the column or columns formed by the guide and division bars, said slats being independent of each other and capable of assuming diagonal positions in the columns they occupy, and a sliding section. for the'frame, havin guided movement on its members and a apted for locking the slatsin place and permitting the removal or adjustment of the slats. l

2. A directory, consisting of a frame havin a sliding upper section and a series of combined guideand division bars extending upward from the lower member of the frame, dividing the frame into series of columns, said bars being T-shapedin cross-section, gnide-- flanges located at the inner side faces of the side members of the frame, and name-slats arranged to fit one upon the other in the columns formed by the said guide and division bars, the ends of the slats receiving the head portions of the said bars or receiving the by Letters flanges of the side bars of the frame, the upi permost section of the frame when in closed position locking the said slats in their places.

In a directory, a frame comprising a bottom bar and side bars, the side bars being provided with guide tlangcs at their inner side edges, intermediatecombined guide and division'bars T-shaped in cross-section from their bottom portions to a point near the top, the top portions being flat, the Web portions of,",-the bars facingito the front, the edges of gm'deflanges oithesidehers ofthe-fremegan iipper section of the irame having sliding the heed-sectieiis beingin aiinement with the mevementupori the upper portion of: the combined guide and division-bersiandlhaving ded 11:1ovement on the upper P reeves m er a. side guide-flange e ahead portion of a combined guide and difiision-bar, said slats being arranged in columns defined by the said guide r ions of. v the side flanges-0f the frame,- esene finitiel 7 and divisioii ber,' eii'e slat resting iipon ,ari- -0the1f, all of the slats being held in said position by the upper sliding section of the frame egg g gaging with the upgermost slat, as described ln te'stimeny W ereof I have signed my name tothis-specificetion' in the presence of twe subscribing witiiesses. I

CH ABLES AUGUST JOHNSON; 1Q; Witnesses: Q i

JAMES,,L. LEAVITT, v

CHARLss A. B wsER. 

